9 trends that will impact e-commerce industry in 2018

February 7, 2018

No Comments

221

Online based business has been approximately for more than 10 years now and it has developed over this time-frame. From having a simple online presence through e-commerce stores now it’s time of m-commerce (Mobile Commerce). M-Commerce(Mobile Commerce also referred as m-commerce is the purchasing and selling of goods and services through a mobile or Smartphone).According to the survey, approximately 75% people of the world in 2030 will possess a Smartphone and have internet access. The youngsters from the middle class in emerging economy like China & India will grow considerably and be richer than their preceding era. With a much wider consumer base and a hike in shopping power, those markets are probable to turn out to be extensively bigger buyers. E-commerce companies that want to be on top in the upcoming decade should pay close interest to new trends and work on driving the wave. But what trends will impact e-commerce industry in 2018? A few e-commerce trends that may impact e-commerce industry in 2018 are as follows.

1. Use of Artificial Intelligence in E-commerce Industry:-

Artificial Intelligence is starting to embed itself into all parts of our lives. From the growing number of self-checkout cash registers to crucial security checking on the airport; AI (Artificial Intelligence) is just about anywhere. It’s broadly predicted that Artificial Intelligence is ready to enter in turbo drive within the next couple of years with big companies such as Google and Microsoft already investing heavily in new Artificial Intelligence initiatives. Now the question arises how to use artificial intelligence in e-commerce industry in a powerful way? So there are plenty of ways to use artificial intelligence in e-commerce industry in a powerful way such as in empowering the store workers, providing virtual assistance, improving recommendation for customers, providing a personal touch with chatbots and creating effective sales process.

2. Omni-channel Retail Strategy:-

Omni-channel retail is a multichannel approach to making sales that targets at presenting the buyer with a seamless buying experience whether the customer is purchasing online from his Smartphone, laptop or in a brick-and-mortar store. The experience will be seamless. Omni word comes from the Omnis which mean universal or all. Omni-channel retail is the future of e-commerce. Omnichannel retail is different from multi-channel sales. Multi-channel sales refer to the approach of having interaction with potential customers on the different platform. Multi-channels approach focus on engagement whereas Omni-channel approach focuses on consistency. Despite the fact that both focus on the use of multiples channels to reach customers and potential customers, multi-channel & Omni-channel is completely different and separate sales approaches.

3. M-commerce (Mobile Commerce):-

According to reports, in 2017 approximately there were 1.6 billion people in the world who used their mobile devices to shop online and it was predicted to cross 2 billion mobile users who will be part of any m-commerce transaction by the end on 2017. Currently, mobile devices account for 19% of all US retail e-commerce sales. This data is predicted to reach 27% by the end of 2018.According to the data, m-commerce sales account for approximately 31% of total e-commerce sales.

4. Voice searches will play a crucial role:-

Now it’s is time for e-commerce companies to get prepared for voice search technology. The major issue with voice search technology is accuracy. In 2013, Google’s voice search system accuracy was below 80%. A few years later, Google has improved voice search system or voice recognition accuracy to 90%. However, accuracy of voice search system of Chinese search engine Baidu is above 95%. This sounds great on paper, but 99% accuracy is what everyone is striving for. It is predicted that 50% of all searches will be voice search by the end of 2020. So you cannot ignore the crucial role of voice search in e-commerce sales. It is going to change e-commerce forever. It is need of hour to hire a reliable mobile app development company India to implement voice search system and for stay ahead in competition.5. Social E-commerce:-

Social E-commerce & Social Media marketing is necessary for increasing e-commerce sales and extending brand reach. It is one of the most important aspects of digital media marketing apart from the development trends. Social media platform can be used in different ways such as, to finding and engaging customers, for paid advertising optimization and staying ahead of the curve. A robust presence on different social media platform is necessary for success of your e-commerce business and extending brand reach.

6. Virtual Shopping Experiences:-

Virtual shopping experience is going to bloom the e-commerce industry in 2018.The key purpose of virtual shopping experience is to bring the shopping experience alive to its customers. It is process to offer virtual reality shopping experience to customers. VR referred a virtual reality is hot and trending topic now days and it is quite worth to invest in this new technology if you are in e-commerce industry. Currently, LensKart & CaratLane allow their customers to virtually try on their products. Virtual reality helps customers visualize how products will look on them without physically going to a store.

7. More Emphasis on Data Analytics:-

Nowadays, customers anticipate solutions that cater to their specific interests and necessities. To recognize what customers require, companies depend on predictive data technology which will probably be the norm in 2018. Prescriptive analytics facilitates to offer the right solution at the proper time, within the proper context. Data Analytics will play a crucial role in facilitating prescriptive analytics in 2018. With its blended powers of analytics and math, prescriptive analytics can assist entrepreneurs to make higher decisions, leading to optimum production level and enhanced customer experience. New and improved data intelligence tools are hitting the marketplace every day to assist organizations better recognize their operations, competitors, and clients. VR (Virtual Reality), AI (Artificial Intelligence) and machine learning can be included in the data analytics and the result would be a more efficient and enhanced the consumer experience. Big data analytics technology has changed the face of e-commerce industry and according to the report by the usage of data analysis technology e-commerce and retails industry has improved their growth by more than 60%.Data analytics technology can be used to increasing revenue by gaining new customers.

8. HTTPS:-

A secure and reliable website is must for success of any e-commerce business whereas an unsecured and unreliable website is annoying for users and it may decrease the sales. Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol Secure is the encrypted update of Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) adding a security layer and decreasing a website’s susceptibility to attack. The uses of HTTPS provide an assurance to the user and help to protect the user data. It also helps in improving the ranking of your e-commerce website in search engine result pages. So you need to hire a professional and reliable e-commerce web development company India who can build a secure and robust website for your e-commerce business.

9. Impact of Demonetization & rise of digital payment system:-

Once upon a time Demonetization was one of the hottest topics in the country. When Demonetization was implemented in India, demonetization brought with a sudden decline in e-commerce transactions since according to Bloomberg data, the volume of cash flow in India is 98% in comparison to 55% in the United States Of America and 46% in the United Kingdom. In comparison to other countries, e-commerce industry in India has always been more dependent on cash on delivery. But if there was one thing that has been growing at a good pace after demonetization, it was digital payment system. There has been a rise in the number digital payment transactions. Even smaller vendors have introduced cashless payment methods. So digital payment system is must for success of your e-commerce business.

Conclusion:-

Future cannot be predicted in regards to e-commerce industry. However, these hot trends will definitely impact the e-commerce industry heavily in 2018.Technology has been changing every day but these are some recent trend if followed, might lead the e-commerce industry to a new success.